The theme to sci-fi hit Star Wars has been named the nation's favourite movie music.

The rousing composition by score veteran John Williams beat the accompaniment to films such as Grease and Lawrence Of Arabia.

Runner-up in the BBC poll to find the greatest soundtrack of all time was Ennio Morricone's score for The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

Viewers and listeners from across the BBC's services chose the original Star Wars movie, which later became known as Episode IV: A New Hope.

Williams landed an Oscar for his work on the film, which also included the well-known jazz-style Cantina Band scene.

Excerpts of the top 20 are to be played live in a countdown on Radio 3 later today from 2pm in a programme presented by Robert Zeigler from the London's famous Air Studios.

The station will also feature Williams talking about his writing next week in Composer Of The Week each weekday at noon and 6.30pm.

Although much of the music in the list was specially written for the screen, the soundtrack at number ten Apocalypse Now is best known for its inclusion of Ride Of The Valkyries which featured in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle and was written in the mid 19th century.

The shortlist of soundtracks was put together by broadcasters and movie music experts.